The (still) tortuous path to emancipation: religious fundamentalisms, the human rights of historically oppressed groups and the struggle for a Secular State in Costa Rica

Abstract

The power exercised by the Catholic hierarchy—as an institution that has historically shown a particular interest in exerting control and subordinating women—is a widely known, studied, and condemned issue. However, it is not a matter that loses its appeal as a subject of study over time. On the contrary, it remains alarming that despite being in the 21st century, we still see the persistence of confessional states firmly rooted in the constitutional frameworks of some Western democracies.

It is even more interesting to analyze how and why that anachronistic and discriminatory privilege is maintained, one that undermines the construction of a pluralistic society. Costa Rica is one of those exceptional cases that continues to exist as a Confessional State. From a feminist ethical standpoint, it is of utmost importance to identify why opening the national debate on the necessity and relevance of a secular state in Costa Rica has become almost impossible—and what impact this has on the lives of women and on the rights the State owes them, particularly sexual and reproductive rights.

In that sense, the purpose of this work is, within the framework of the resurgence of religious fundamentalisms, neo-Catholic integralism, and the crisis of representative democracy, to analyze the use of discourse that is openly opposed to the principles of an inclusive and pluralistic democracy. This discourse has been employed by the hierarchy of the Catholic Church and by representatives of various political forces, against the 2009 proposed constitutional reform to eliminate Catholicism as the official state religion in Costa Rica. A key point of analysis will be the study of public statements made by the presidential candidates of that time, and the initial actions of the current government, which could be seen as indicators of a neo-Catholic integralist-oriented government.